Conclusion

Cardinal Articles of Belief

·           God is One, without any partners. The name “Allah,” His special name, cannot be used for anybody or anything else.

·           He eternally exists without coming into existence. He is the Eternal without a beginning and endures without end.

·           There is nothing like Him. He is the Creator, neither created nor a part of His creation. He neither begets nor is begotten.

·           He cannot be conceived of in any human terms and qualities, and does not incarnate. He is different from any created being. He knows, but not as we know; He has power, but not as we have power; He sees, but not as we see; He hears, but not as we hear; and He speaks, but not as we speak. We speak via speech organs and sounds, whereas God Most High speaks without organs or sounds. He has neither body nor substance, neither accidental property nor limit, neither opposite nor like nor similitude.

·           There is no god other than Him. He is One, not in a numerical sense, but in the sense that He has no partner. He is the Eternal Refuge. He has absolute control over everything, and nothing has any control over Him. Nothing can be independent of Him, even for the blink of an eye.

·           Nothing can overwhelm Him. No limits or restrictions can be placed upon Him. He has no parts or limbs, and cannot be contained by the six directions, as all created things are.

·           No entity in the universe is worthy of worship besides Him.

·           Nothing happens except that He wills it to happen.

·           He is living and never dies, is eternally active and never sleeps.

·           He creates without being in need to do so, and provides for His creation without any effort.

·           He causes death without fear, restores to life without difficulty.

·           He has the power to do everything. Everything is dependent upon Him, and yet He needs nothing. There is nothing like Him.

·           He ordered His creatures to obey Him and forbade them to disobey Him.

·           He is Exalted beyond having opposites or equals.

·           No one can ward off His decree, delay His command, or overpower His affairs.

·           Muhammad, upon him be God’s blessings and peace, is His chosen Servant, elect Prophet, His Messenger with whom He is well pleased, and the Seal of the Prophets.

·           Every claim to Prophethood after Him is falsehood and deceit.

·           He has been sent to the jinn and humanity with truth, guidance, light, and illumination.

·           The Qur’an is God’s word, which He revealed to His Messenger. All Muslims accept it as absolute truth.

·           The Prophets, peace and blessings be upon them, are free of all major and minor sins, unbelief, and everything that is repugnant. Any insignificant lapses and errors that they might commit cause them to be corrected immediately by God.

·           God took Abraham as an intimate friend and spoke directly to Moses.

·           We believe in the angels, the Prophets, and the Books revealed to the Messengers, and we bear witness that they were all following the manifest Truth.

·           We call the people of our qibla Muslims and believers as long as they acknowledge what the Prophet brought and accept as true everything that he said and told us about. We do not consider any of them unbelievers because of any wrong action they have done, as long as they do not consider that action lawful.

·           A person enters unbelief only by disavowing what led him or her to it.

·           Whatever the Prophet, upon him be peace, said about the Shari‘a and the explanation (of the Qur’an and of Islam) is true.

·           God loves all the believers, and the noblest of them in His sight are those who are the most obedient and who follow Islam most closely.

·           Belief consists of belief in God, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day (along with the Resurrection and the Day of Judgment), and belief in Divine Destiny and Decree (including human free will).

·           We make no distinction between any of the Messengers, and accept as true what all of them brought.

·           God, the Guardian of those who recognize Him, will not treat them in the Hereafter in the same way as He treats those who deny Him, are bereft of His guidance, and have failed to obtain His protection. O God, You are the Protector of Islam and its people. Make us firm in Islam until the day we meet You.

·           We follow the Sunna of the Prophet and the Muslim community, and avoid deviation, differences, and divisions.

·           People’s actions are created (given external existence in the material world) by God, but earned (done) by people themselves.

·           We do not accept as true anything said by soothsayers and fortune-tellers, nor do we accept the claims of those who affirm anything that goes against the Book, the Sunna, and the consensus of the Muslim community (umma).

·           We agree that holding together is the true and right path, and that separation is deviation and torment.

Importance and Virtues of Belief [1]

In the following four points, we will explain five out of the thousands of virtues of belief.

First Point. Through the light of belief, we reach the highest degree of perfection and become worthy of Paradise. The darkness of unbelief reduces us to the lowest level so that we deserve Hell. Belief connects us to our Majestic Maker, and our value derives from using our belief to demonstrate the Divine art and manifest the Divine Names. Unbelief breaks this relation, thereby veiling the Divine art and reducing our value to that of a mere physical entity with almost no value (a physical entity is perishable and is no more than a transient animal). We will explain this through a parable.

The value of the iron (or any other material) from which a work of art is made differs from the value of the art expressed in it. Sometimes they may be of the same value, or the art’s worth may be far more than its material, or vice versa. An antique may fetch as much as a million dollars, while its material is not even worth a few cents. If taken to the antiques market, it may be sold for its true value because of its art and the brilliant artist’s name. If taken to a blacksmith, it would be sold only for the value of its iron.

Similarly, each person is a unique, priceless work of God Almighty’s art. We are His Power’s most delicate and graceful miracles, beings created to manifest all His Names and inscriptions in the form of a miniature specimen of the universe. If we are illuminated with belief, these meaningful inscriptions become visible. Believers manifest these inscriptions through their connection with their Maker, for the Divine art contained in each person is revealed through such affirmations as: “I am the work of the Majestic Maker, the creature and object of His Mercy and Munificence.” As a result, and because we gain value in proportion to how well we reflect this art, we move from insignificance (in material terms) to beings ranked above all creatures. We communicate with God, are His guests on Earth, and are qualified for Paradise.

But if unbelief is ingrained in us, all of the Divine Names’ manifestations are veiled by darkness and thus nonexpressive. If the artist is unknown, how can the aspects expressing the worth of his art be identified? Thus most meaningful instances of that sublime art and elevated inscriptions are concealed. In material terms, unbelievers attribute such art and inscriptions to trivial causes, nature and chance, thereby reducing them to plain glass instead of sparkling diamonds. They are no more significant than any other material entity, self-condemned to a transient and suffocating life, and no better than a most impotent, needy, and afflicted animal that eventually will become dust. Unbelief thus spoils our nature by changing our diamond into coal.

Second Point. Just as belief illuminates human beings and reveals all the messages inscribed in their being by the Eternally-Besought-of-All, it also illuminates the universe and removes darkness from the past and future. We will explain this truth through what I experienced regarding the meaning of: God is the Protecting Friend of those who believe. He brings them out of the layers of darkness into the light (2:257).

I saw myself standing on an awe-inspiring bridge set over a deep valley between two mountains. The world was completely dark. Looking to my right, I imagined I saw a huge tomb. Looking to my left, I felt as if I were seeing violent storms and calamities being prepared amid tremendous waves of darkness. Looking down, I imagined I was seeing a very deep precipice.

In that darkness, my torch’s dim light revealed a dreadful scene. All along the bridge’s length were such horrible dragons, lions, and monsters that I wished I had no torch. Whichever way I directed it, I got the same fright. “This torch brings me only trouble,” I exclaimed, angrily throwing it away and breaking it. Suddenly darkness was replaced by light, as if I had switched on a huge light by breaking my torch. I saw everything in its true nature.

I discovered that the bridge was a highway on a smooth plain. The huge tomb was a green, beautiful garden in which assemblies of worship, prayer, glorification, and discourse were being led by illustrious persons. The turbulent, stormy, frightening precipices now appeared as a banqueting hall, a shaded promenade, a very beautiful resting place behind lovely mountains. The horrible monsters and dragons were, in fact, camels, sheep, and goats. “Praise and thanks be to God for the light of belief,” I said, and then awoke reciting: God is the Protecting Friend of those who believe. He brings them out of the layers of darkness into the light.

The two mountains are this life’s beginning and end, and the life between death and Resurrection. The bridge is the lifespan, between the two phases of the past (on the right) and the future (on the left). The torch is our conceited ego that, relying on its own achievements, ignores Divine Revelation. The monsters were the worlds’ events and creatures of all kinds.

Those who have fallen into the darkness of misguidance and heedlessness because of their confidence in their egos resemble me in the former state – in the dim light of a torch. With their inadequate and misguided knowledge, they see the past as a huge tomb in the darkness of extinction and the future as a stormy scene of terror controlled by coincidence or chance. The torch shows them events and creatures. In reality, these are subjugated to the All-Wise and All-Merciful, fulfill specific functions, and serve good purposes in submission to His Decree. However, they see such things as harmful monsters. These are the people referred to in: As to those who do not believe, their protecting friends are false deities. They bring them out of light into layers of darkness (2:257).

If, however, people are favored with Divine guidance so that belief enters their hearts and their Pharaoh-like egos are broken, thereby enabling them to listen to the Book of God, they will resemble me in my later state. Suddenly the universe will fill with Divine Light, demonstrating the meaning of: God is the light of the heavens and Earth (24:35).

Through the eye of their hearts, such people see that the past is not a huge tomb; rather, each past century is the realm of authority of a Prophet or a saint, where the purified souls, having completed the duties of their lives (worship) with “God is the Greatest,” flew to higher abodes on the side of the future. Looking to their left and through the light of belief, they discern, behind the mountain-like revolutions of the intermediate world and the next life, a feasting place set up by the All-Compassionate One at palaces of bliss in gardens of Paradise. They understand that storms, earthquakes, epidemics, and similar events serve a specific function, just as the spring rain and winds, despite their apparent violence, serve many agreeable purposes. They even see death as the beginning of eternal life, and the grave as the gateway to eternal happiness.

Third Point. Belief is both light and power. Those who attain true belief can challenge the universe and, in proportion to their belief’s strength, be relieved of the pressure of events. Relying upon God, they travel safely through the huge waves of events in the ship of life. They voyage through the world comfortably until their last day, since they entrusted their burdens to the Absolutely Powerful One’s Power. The grave will be a resting place, after which they will fly to Paradise to attain eternal bliss. If they do not rely upon God, their worldly life will force them down to the lowest depths.

Belief, therefore, consists of affirming Divine Unity, which requires submitting to God, which requires relying upon God, which yields happiness in both worlds. Such reliance upon God should not be misunderstood as ignoring cause and effect. Rather, it means that one should think of causes as a veil covering Power’s hand. One observes them by seeking to comply with the Divine Will, which is a sort of worship in action. However, such desire and seeking is not enough to secure a particular effect. We must understand that, in accordance with right belief, the result is to be expected only from God, the All-Mighty. As He is the sole producer of effects, we always should be grateful to Him.

To understand the truth and meaning of trust in God, consider this parable: Once two people boarded a ship with heavy burdens. One put his burden on the deck immediately after boarding and sat on it to keep it safe. The other one, even after being told to lay his burden down, refused to do so and said: “I won’t put it down, for it might get lost. Besides, I’m strong enough to carry it.” He was told:

This reliable royal ship is stronger and can hold it better. You will most probably get tired, feel dizzy, and fall into the sea with your burden. Your strength will fail, and then how will you bear this burden that gets heavier every moment? If the captain sees you in this state, he might say you are insane and expel you from the ship. Or maybe he will think you do not trust our ship and make fun of us, for which he will imprison you. Also, you will be marked out and become the butt of jokes. Your vanity reveals your weakness, your arrogance reveals your impotence, and your pretension betrays your humiliation. And so you have become a laughing-stock – look how everybody is laughing at you.

These words convinced him to follow his companion’s example. He told him: “May God be pleased with you. I have obtained relief and am no longer subject to imprisonment or becoming a laughing-stock.” Trust in God and come to your senses, as the man in the parable did. Put your trust in God so that you may be delivered from begging from creation and trembling in fear at each happening. Doing so will deliver you from self-conceit, being ridiculous, the pressures of this life, and the torments of the Hereafter.

Fourth Point. Belief enables us to attain true humanity, to acquire a position above all other creatures. Thus, belief and worship are our most fundamental and important duties. Disbelief, by contrast, reduces us to the state of a brutal but very impotent beast.

A decisive proof for this truth is the difference between how human beings and animals come into existence. Almost from the very moment of birth, an animal seems to have been trained and perfected its faculties somewhere else. Within a few hours or days or months, it can lead its life according to its particular rules and conditions. A sparrow or a bee is inspired with the skill and ability to integrate into its environment within a matter of 20 days, while it would take a person 20 years to do so. This means that an animal’s basic obligation and essential role does not include seeking perfection through learning, progress through scientific knowledge, or prayer and petitioning for help by displaying their impotence. Rather, their sole purpose is to act within the bounds of their innate faculties, which is the mode of worship specified for them.

People are born knowing nothing of life and their environment and so must learn everything. As we cannot do this even within 20 years, we must continue to learn until we die. We appear to have been sent here with so much weakness and inability that we might need 2 years to learn how to walk. Only after 15 years can we distinguish good and evil. Only by living in a society can we become smart enough to choose between what is good and what is bad.

Thus the essential and intrinsic duty of our existence is to seek perfection through learning and to proclaim our worship of and servanthood to God through prayer and supplication. We should look for answers to such questions as: “Through whose compassion is my life so wisely administered? Through whose generosity am I being so affectionately trained? Through whose favors and benevolence am I being so solicitously nourished?” Then we should pray and petition the Provider of Needs in humble awareness of our needs, none of which we can satisfy on our own. This understanding and confession of our impotence and poverty will become two wings on which to fly to the highest rank: being a slave of God.

And so our purpose here is to seek perfection through knowledge and prayer. Everything is, by its nature, essentially dependent on knowledge. And the basis, source, light, and spirit of all true knowledge is knowledge of God, of which belief is the very foundation. After belief, prayer is our essential duty and the basis of worship, for despite our infinite impotence, we are exposed to endless misfortune and innumerable enemies. And despite our infinite poverty, we suffer limitless need and demands.

Children express their need for something they cannot reach with words or tears. Both are a sort of plea or prayer, in word or deed, with the tongue of weakness. Eventually they get what they want. Similarly, we are quite like a beloved child, for at the Most Compassionate and Merciful Being’s Court we either will weep (due to our weakness and impotence) or pray (due to our poverty and need) so that our need may be satisfied. In return, we should perform our duty of gratitude and thanksgiving for this provision. Otherwise, the ingratitude of those who claim to have so much intelligence and power over everything that they can meet their own needs finally will come to the point where they resemble mischievous children moaning about irritating flies. Such ingratitude is against our essential nature and makes us worthy of severe punishment.